Haditha Marine Speaks Publicly
"Normally the Iraqis know the drill...if something happens...get down, hands up...They started to take off, so I shot at them," Wuterich says. Other Marines have told investigators that the Iraqis appeared to be following orders and were not fleeing. Pelley asks Wuterich how running away from the scene could have constituted hostile intent. He replies that he thought they may have detonated the roadside bomb. He adds, "But also at the same time, there were military-aged males that were inside that car. The only vehicle, the only thing that was out, that was Iraqi, was them. They were 100 meters away from that IED. Those are the things that went through my mind before I pulled the trigger. That was positive identification," Wuterich tells Pelley.
Another decision Wuterich made that day was to lead an attack on two houses. That attack killed three women and six children. The Marines attacked the first house with the permission of a superior officer because they thought two or three shots were fired at them from it. Wuterich says the Marines tossed a grenade into a room in the dwelling before determining who was inside. They pressed the attack with a charge through the door and gunshots to kill any survivors. According to Wuterich, this was the best way to clear a house safely, and he has no compunction about doing it. "You can't hesitate to make a decision. Hesitation equals being killed, either yourself or your men... That's what we do. That's how our training goes."
Wuterich says he saw that the attack on the first house had killed women and children. But he did not stop the assault, because he says he saw a back door open in the house and assumed the sniper had gone through it to the next house. "My responsibility as a squad leader is to make sure that none of the rest of my guys died ...and at that point we were still on the assault, so no, I don't believe [I should have stopped the attack]," he tells Pelley.
"We went through that house much the same, prepping the rooms with grenades, going in there, and eliminating the threat and engaging the targets," says Wuterich. In the second house, a man, two women and four children who ranged in age from 2 to 14, died. "Did we know that civilians were in there? No. It would have been one thing if we went in those rooms and looked at everyone and shot them," Wuterich tells Pelley. "We cleared these houses the way they were supposed to be cleared."
There's no way we can win in Iraq when we have Liberal lawyers looking over the shoulders of our military. These soldiers have to make split second decisions that determine life or death. They are fighting an enemy that is too cowardice to wear uniforms, and when you don't know for sure who the enemy is, all you have is instinct. People that know members of the military who were involved in any conflict know, war is hell. Things are going to happen, maybe the decisions are not correct, but if it comes down to you dying, or the enemy dying, it's going to be the enemy.
Lawyers and politicians should not be running a war. I'm guessing 99% of them have not been in combat, or enlisted for that matter. If you don't have the confidence in your generals, then they need to be replaced. If you do have confidence in them, let them fight the war how it needs to be fought and stay out of it. The only purpose the politicians should have in war is: 1. The authorization/ declaration of war. 2. Funding. Everything else they should leave alone and sit at their desk.
THIS IS ABOUT LIFE AND DEATH. IF IT COMES DOWN TO AN IRAQI DYING OR OUR MILITARY DYING, IT BETTER BE AN IRAQI
